Town Halls Celebrate Bisexuality

More councils than ever have been making a public show of their support for bi residents this Bi Visibility Day. It’s a remarkable turn around in engagement with the annual celebration, which is in its 18th year and until five years ago was marked by bisexual organisations but ignored by wider LGBT and ally groups.

Brighton, Leeds, Bolton, Camden, Wakefield and Oxford flew the bisexual flag for the day or in the case of Wakefield and Brighton, the whole week.

Cllr Ed Turner, Deputy Leader of Oxford City Council, said: “As a council we are aware of the real problems still faced by the Bi community, and that having greater visibility will be important in tackling these. Flying this flag was an initiative of those with first-hand knowledge of these issues and we are very glad to be doing so, especially on Bi-visibility Day.

“We want Oxford to be a city which is welcoming and tolerant to all, and where discrimination has no place.”

Cllr Ryan Case, LGBT lead on Wakefield Council, said: “Bi Visibility Day is well known in parts of the USA and Europe, and it’s important that here in Wakefield we also get involved and mark the day in order to celebrate diversity and tolerance.

“There is still a lot of prejudice towards people who are bi-sexual and the day is also about supporting inclusivity and breaking down misconceptions.”

Camden’s Mayor, Cllr Nadia Shah, raised the flag over their town hall.

Beyond the town halls, the Co-Op’s national headquarters was lit up in pink, purple and blue for the day, while the HQ of West Yorkshire Police was amongst public services raising the bi flag on the day as well.

Leeds went the extra mile lighting up the entire Civic Hall purple for the night on September 23rd itself.